Who has the sense of Duty?

Bush used the word duty in a morally clear and very specific way. On at least six different times he used the term duty to spell out what we ought to do:

• “I have a solemn duty to protect the American people, to do everything I can to protect us.”
• “we can look back and say we did our duty"
• “we have a duty to our country and to future generations of America to achieve a free Iraq, a free Afghanistan, and to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction”
• “This nation of ours has got a solemn duty to defeat this ideology of hate.”
• “We have a duty to defeat this enemy. We have a duty to protect our children and grandchildren.”
  

When Kerry used the word duty, in each of the four instances he was referring to people on “active duty”, such as “…9 out of 10 active duty divisions of our Army…”
The closest Kerry came to talking about duty was when he talked about winning:

• “I have a plan for Iraq. I believe we can be successful. I'm not talking about leaving. I'm talking about winning. And we need a fresh start, a new credibility, a president who can bring allies to our side.”

Lets look at this statement point by point:

• “I have a plan for Iraq” - You never spelled out your plan.
• “Believe we can be successful” - We all “believe we can be successful”, and we have been, and will continue to be.
• “I'm not talking about leaving” – not in this debate, but you did last week.
• “We need a fresh start” – What does that mean? Are we, like children playing a game going to call for a “do over”, or perhaps a mulligan?
  

“A president who can bring allies to our side” – “(Bush) And now there's 30 nations involved, standing side by side with our American troops”

• What Kerry means is France is not in Iraq – why else would he look at the following nations and say we have no allies in Iraq?
• Albania - 71 non-combat troops to help with peacekeeping, based in northern Iraq.
• Azerbaijan - 150-man unit to take part in patrols, law enforcement and protection of religious and historic monuments in Iraq.
• Bulgaria - 485-member infantry battalion patrolling Karbala, south of Baghdad. An additional 289 will be sent.
• Central America and the Caribbean - Dominican Republic (with 300 troops), El Salvador (360), Honduras (360) and Nicaragua (120) are assisting a Spanish-led brigade in south-central Iraq.
• Czech Republic - 271 military personnel and three civilians running a field hospital in Basra; 25 military police in Iraq.
• Denmark - 406 troops, consisting of light infantry units, medics and military police. An additional 90 soldiers are being sent.
• Georgia - 69, including 34 special troops, 15 sappers and 20 medics.
• Estonia - 55 soldiers, including mine divers and cargo handlers.
• Hungary - 300-member transportation contingent in Iraq.
• Italy - 3,000 troops in southern Iraq.
• Moldova - Dozens of de-mining specialists and medics.
• Netherlands - 1,106, including a core of 650 marines, three Chinook transport helicopters, a logistics team, a field hospital, a commando contingent, military police and a unit of 230 military engineers.
• New Zealand - 61 army engineers assigned for reconstruction work in southern Iraq.
• Norway - 156-member force includes engineers and mine clearers.
• Poland - 2,400 troops command one of three military sectors in Iraq.
• Portugal - 120 police officers.
• Romania - 800 military personnel, including 405 infantry, 149 de-mining specialists and 100 military police, along with a 56-member special intelligence detachment.
• Slovakia - 82 military engineers.
• South Korea - 675 non-combat troops with more forces on the way.
• Thailand - 400 troops assigned to humanitarian operations.
• Ukraine - 1,640 soldiers from a mechanized unit.
• United Kingdom - 7,400, 1,200 more planned.
• Amoungst others
  

NOTE: this listing is about 8 months old, so this is not exact


Kerry did a great job debating, but he had no substance. All Kerry offered last night were tired old talking points that don’t take much to be corrected.

As a former Marine, I have know that feeling and pride that comes with duty – of a job well done. If John Kerry is the great war-hero that we keep hearing of, then why no reference or even a fleeting sense that this man even knows what duty is?